McConnell softens tone on finance regulation bill

After a week of attacking the pending legislation as a ticket to new taxpayer "bailouts," McConnell is striking a different tone. Monday on the Senate floor, he called for lawmakers to move beyond "personal attacks and questioning each others' motives" to "fixing the problems in this bill."

And McConnell conceded, after being chastised by no less than President Obama in his weekly radio address, that "both parties agree on this point: no bailouts. In my view, that's a pretty good start."

On Tuesday, McConnell returned to the chamber and announced he was "heartened to hear that bipartisan talks have resumed in earnest." Senate Democratic leaders are preparing to bring the overhaul bill to the floor as early as Thursday, but all 41 Republicans have signed a letter stating their opposition to the bill in its current form. Unless Democrats can peel off at least one GOP senator to allow debate to proceed, a GOP-led filibuster could block financial regulatory reform indefinitely.

Later on Tuesday, after a lunch meeting with Senate Republicans, McConnell said the letter appeared to have helped to spur a new round of talks between Democrats and Republicans on the Senate Banking Committee. "I'm convinced now that there is a new element of seriousness attached to this, rather than just trying to score political points," McConnell said.

One potential GOP convert for Democrats, Sen. Olympia J. Snowe of Maine, told reporters Tuesday she would wait for bipartisan talks to play out before deciding whether to support Democratic efforts to advance the legislation. Although Democrats are eager to enlist her support, Snowe said she would "give consideration and deference" to Banking Committee negotiations.

Unlike with the health-care reform bill, which McConnell sought to kill outright, the Republican leader is not calling for Democrats to return to the drawing board. GOP senators have asked for several specific changes, in particular to a $50 billion fund created by the financial sector to liquidate bankrupt firms. Although some Republicans have backed the fund, others warn it could encourage further reckless investing. Democrats have signaled they may be willing to alter the provision to gain GOP support.

"I'm happy to hear my counterpart, my friend, Senator McConnell talk about the need for more negotiations," said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (Nev.), in remarks on the floor following McConnell's speech Tuesday. "We don't stand in the way of that."

Reid told reporters after a lunch meeting with Senate Democrats that the $50 billion fund was negotiable. "That's something we're going to take a look at," Reid said. "We'll see what goes on with the discussions that are taking place."

In its current form, the 1,400-page bill would create an independent regulator, housed at the Federal Reserve, that would be charged with protecting consumers of mortgages, credit cards and other loans against lending abuse and other deceptive practices. It would also create oversight of the vast derivatives market and curtail the regulatory powers of the Federal Reserve.

Republican have simply awakened to the political reality that they endanger their gains this fall as long as they continue actively sticking up for Wall Street, the most despised institution in the country.

Let's not kid ourselves. McConnell backed down only after it became clear that fighting against the financial reform bill would be a BIG-TIME political liability for the GOP -- especially in the wake of the fraud lawsuit filed by the SEC against Goldman Sachs.

The LAST thing the Republicans needed was to solidify their reputation as the "party of Wall Street fat cats," which McConnell had to have known was a club that the Democrats would not have hesitated to use upside the Republicans' heads.

Blocking financial reform in this election year with the wild card of the Tea Party movement would have been politically suicidal for the GOP.

WOW. Boy did the republicans play this hand badly. I would imagine that 90% of the people in this country think that we need finance reform, and they are going to try and filibusterer it?

Filibustering means that they will vote to not even bring the bill to debate, which means they are voting to not even talk about the subject. Isn't that a bit irresponsible? Why would they refuse to even talk about something that "we the people" are so adamant about reforming? Who's side are they really on?

They are going to get killed in November if they don't start acting like adults.

Obama for the American People VS. Republican Party for Goldman Sac and Big Banks. I would like to hear the sound bites this election. They are going to look so stupid on healthcare when they play, Death panels, Armageddon, etc and fighting for the people we bailed out. WHERE's MY MONEY MITCH MCCONNEL?

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While the gap between rich and poor is ever and ongoing process the GOP continue to show their hatred for ordinary folk. Many of these folk are GOP supporters, you wonder why the rest of the world see the USA in such a demeaning way!
At least in China when you see k's supporting the government you know they are the paid elite types, not the ass out of the pants "nose in spite of the face lot".
I feel embarrassed for the friends of mine in the US that have to be smeared with this view of Americans. The few make so much noise and are well delivered by the media.
Sachs Goldman have played a larger part in the downfall in Greece as well...Democrats bring it on and if the citizens are that dumb let them fall into their own excrement. Dumb and Dumber!

Yes the President got more money from Goldman Sachs than McCain or any other politician. It has been reported at 1 million. President Obama raised hundreds of millions of dollars during his long primary and general election campaigns. I remember him raising 150 million for September 2008 alone. 1 million is chump change.

Mitch M. probably has a "trick" up his sleeve. I don't think the Republicans are going to break their "O-for" streak of supporting anything coming from Obama or the Dems. Probably looking to cooperate so they can water down the bill and keep those Wall ST. donations coming in.

This is one more case of GOP Hypocrisy. McConnell is afraid that he can't keep his deal with Wall st. He promised them he would water down the bill when he went begging them for money last week. His cover has been blown and even he see how stupid he looks lying about "bailouts". They take the Frank Luntz talking points and repeat them ad nauseum and think we believe them. The GOP has sunk so low that calling their actions "stupid" would actually be an upgrade.

McConnell and the GOP are flip-flopping now because they are scared this bill will pass, that the people KNOW we need to pass this reform bill ASAP before Goldman and the hedge fund criminals loot us again, and they don't want to be seen as the REAL friends of Wall Street that they are. Wonder how the right-wingers are going to justify their "team's" flip flop? Something is wrong with right wing noses that they can't smell fishy politics when McConnell puts it right in their faces.

What GOP is doing is despicable to the least and may be criminal as well. Putting the future of the nation at jeopardy, marginalizing the middle class and making the economy suitable only for the very rich. What they don't realize is that all that money they are giving away only to the every rich is of no use if there is no middle class. Ask the Mexican who is the richest man on earth - he is staying in US. GOP, please ask us why??

Was there anything illegal about that? NO. Are people allowed to give contributions to politicians? Yes. Stop trying to make something out of nothing. If you go back and look at each and every person in Congress you will find that they receive contributions from a variety ob people and businesses. Wonder how much money Mitch McConnell has received fro big Pharma, health insurance companies, financial institutions. Until there is real campaign finance reform they will continue to receive those donations. And, now with the Supreme Court ruling..... So what is your point here? You can't vilify the President over this if you don't vilify EVERYONE who has ever ran for any office. And so what if one receives more than the other , is there a law against that?

Sure, after he has been shown to be a hypocrite he softens his stance? Yeah, right. If Republicans came to the table ready to fully engage and do the work they were sent to Washington to do we wouldn't go through this every time there is a bill before them. The idea they should start over and negotiate, why? They should have participated in the first place. The majority of Americans do not want to hear them whine again how they had no input, that no one would listen to them, that they have ideas. No one believes that. They tried this on health care reform, you can't keep saying the same thing and produce nothing.

Good ole Mitch is beginning to feel the heat. We all have gotten use to the " Talking Points by now". 'It wil be a Bailout of the Banks" How can Financial Regulations be a Bailout of the Banks? Does he realze how dumb he sounds?
Leader Reid called him out on the floor . They (The Republicans) met with the Wall Street Bankers last month what did they agree on?
Sen Cornin from Tenn was on Morning Joe claims that the Bill does not go far enough enough But when he was pressed by 4 Different Interviewers he could not say what he would like to see in the Bill to make it stronger. It was comical.
We see the same old stuff stall denounce , object.
The Three C Party is at at again.
Critercizing Complaining and condemming.

The polls must be showing that the mischaracterization of the bill as providing "bailouts" is not credible - which it is not.

The proposed bank-tax-funded "bailout fund" (vs. de facto taxpayer "bailouts") was the GOPs only talking point.

So the GOP either had to abandon their bank lobbyists and guarantee there would be NO bailouts whatsoever, or they will have to support SOME mechanism for the orderly unwinding of failed institutions.

The betting money is on making the banks pay for their own problems - either via a bank-funded option or regulations preventing taxpayer bailouts - which would means the banks will just fail outright next time.

It's high time we get legislation passed. I am utterly unconcerned whether the author(s) have D's or R's after their names. I want the nation's business attended to! That includes regulating Wall Street (since, it appears, we can't convict these pirates and expropriate their ill-gotten gains . . . OK, that was over-the-top hyperbole, but there are plenty of folks ready to string 'em up!).

So I'm glad McConnell is changing his tune. I do think that most Americans with functioning neurons will understand that he has completely revealed himself for the crass political operative he is (not that he doesn't have company in that regard). Mitch McConnell: party politics first, America last.

McConnell is striking a different tone. Monday on the Senate floor, he called for lawmakers to move beyond "personal attacks and questioning each others' motives" to "fixing the problems in this bill."

O'K RED & BLUE in CONGRESS whom are in BED with these Globalist DERIVATIVE $PUSHERS--- pass a so-called 'Financial Reform Bill!? What a JOKE! - But, errr on the People's side, and make it extremely strict for NOW,--- and then next year, after the Bank Criminal Prosecutions have a good start,--- then add-to, or finish the Bill by having a public hanging of the Economic Derivative Pusjhing TERRORITS! --- p.s.-(and do Not leave out the RED & BLUE 'TURN-COATS' in CONGRESS whom supported & $BAILED them).

"If your competitor (The GOP) must use trickery or subterfuge to sustain his position, he is facing some kind of shortage (such as votes in the November 2010 election)."

"When you competitor (The GOP) uses his last available resources (The Tea Party) to challenge you, he is desperate."

"If you watch your competitor (The GOP)closely, you will observe that his spirits are high in the early stages (see HCR and FR). Later, his spirits will diminish. As matters drag on (Like HCR), he will be anxious for a resolution. Use this to your advantage."

Dylan Ratigan just said it, to which I will add a caveat.
The bill must define too big to fail and break up those who exceed those limits.
And (my add) there must be transparency.
Also, we must pass a strong derivatives regulation bill.
So far, Senator Blanche Lincoln has put forward the best regulatory bill.
Anyone care to improve on it?
(And don't tell me scrap it.)
It's time for Teddy Roosevelt-style trust-busting again.
We've had this type of slow erosion in our past; we've strengthened the dikes and we know how to do it.
If people think we can't afford the stimulus and they don't want to pay for it, do they really have the appetite to fund the next TARP?
Because now that the banks having found out that they can get away with it, they are busy making more billion$ and doing it all over again.
How many times can our economy tolerate this type of jolt without collapsing completely?
And if it does, what happens to your savings (and mine)?
Are the "Just-Say-No"ers thinking about that?
I watched the snippet on C-Span today in which McConnell talked about being interested in helping out.
Like the snake in the Garden of Eden, he appears to me.
The only way Mitch McConnell could convince me he's serious is if he stays with the bill, whether he likes everything in the bill or not.
The moment he falls away, you'll know he was never serious in the first place and all his blather was ... was just that.

We must also repeal the Phil Gramm act (Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act) that allowed commercial banks, investment banks, and insurers to merge (which would have violated antitrust laws under Glass-Seagal) and reinstate the Glass-Seagal Act which separated Banks from investment banks which deal with speculative trading and mergers.

The GOP suggested the $50 Billion fund to help liquidate banks. The original amount requested was $150 Billion. Now McConnell wants to spare his Rich Wall Street Banker friends even that expense, despite the Trillions of risky derivatives, Swaps and CDO they create and sell.

I hope that Congress can come to some consensus on the Financial Reform Bill but I have doubts-- especially when the GOP is bragging that they are the party of "hell, no". The people really need to see some bipartisan in Congress.

I think most of us would like to see the Republicans and Democrats work together on this. But only if what they come up with is true reform. If they don't reign in derivatives, require financial institutions to keep a significant part of each loan they make, perhaps require banks to pay into an insurance fund to avoid future taxpayer bailouts, and otherwise oversee some of the shady accounting practices now being revealed in court actions and congressional hearings, there will be another depression with the same causes as this one.

It is becoming more and more clear that a lot of unregulated chicanery led to the mess we're in now. President Obama is right. There have to be effective regulations.

Is it just me or doesn't it seem odd that Texas didn't get effected by the mortgage crisis? They have 1.5% delinquent mortgages
as of 2010 and only 2.5% in 2009. Did the state of Texas know something that the rest of the Country didn't know? Did a past President let the state of Texas know in 2006 something was going to blow up in the mortgage industry, because he himself set the wheels in motion to put the Country in free fall to divert money to his rich buddies? Kind of makes you wonder when the rest of the Nation is suffering and Texas is smelling like a turd blossom?

The GOP's internal poll numbers must have come in overnight -- if they don't at least look like they want to take on Wall Street, then their pickups in the fall will be diminished. What other explanation is there for McConnell's 24 hour flip flop?

This has nothing to do with Financial Regulation. The Republicans know they have a battle coming up on a SCOTUS nominee. If they play nice now, they may gain an ounce of their credibility back prior to that debate where I can guarantee you there will be ZERO Republican support for any nominee Obama chooses.

This has nothing to do with Financial Regulation. The Republicans know they have a battle coming up on a SCOTUS nominee. If they play nice now, they may gain an ounce of their credibility back prior to that debate where I can guarantee you there will be ZERO Republican support for any nominee Obama chooses.

Now if the republicans want to toughen the bill they ought to offer the return of Glass-Stegal in some up to date form that builds an unbreakable wall between commercial banking and investment banking. The current bill does not seem to adequately address this issue.

NO WHERE TO GO!
The Republicans in the Senate and Congress have boxed themselves in a political corner, by their negative tactic of saying "No!" to every piece of legislation the Democrats put forward!

Now, the Republicans have no choice but to support the Bank Bailout legislation, or be seen by the public as siding with the Banks to create another economic meltdown!

A 'No!'vote by Republican senators and House members can no longer be sustained!

The Democrats must not waterdown their bill to suit Republicans. They did so for the Healthcare Act, by leaving out the public option to gain Republican support. It never came!

Let the Republicans continue with their wicked and destructive ideology, of "We want Obama to fail." The opposite has been the case!

President Obama and American economy are succeeding WITHOUT Republican support!

President Obama and a Democratic Congress have designed a number of smart economic policies and strategies that are moving our economy out of recession into recovery, with NO Republican support!

It has taken the United States just 18 months to change the economy around! It took the Japanese 12 years to reach the same point!

Productivity has grown at a rate of about 7% in last three quarters- the largest rise in productivity over three quarters in more than 50 years!

US exports have risen from $121.7 billion dollars in April 2009, to $142.7 billion dollars in January 2010!

The Recovery Act has been a great success, and has created about 2 million jobs nationally.

President Obama, Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi have all demonstrated, great leadership, in a crisis situation! They have delivered when their country needed them to do so!
President Obama, Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi have displayed great boldness, courage, and decisive action!

Republicans in the Senate and House have shown cowardice, destructive and malicious negativity, the likes of which, has never been seen in Congress before, and during a time of economic crisis for our nation!

The tit for tat response to McDo's lies caused him to change his minds. It's unlike the HC bill debate when the democrats were slow to react to inflammatory and outright lies leading to a summer of heated town hall meetings. The bill does not contain any bailout provisions, and we all know it. We also know that this talking point originated from a republican focus group. When all this came to light, McDo has to play ball. What is the republicans' alternative?

Nobody, and I mean nobody, is buying McConnell's spin. He and his GOP brethren have been gorging at the trough of dirty Hedge Fund money for years. That's why they are stilling angling to serve the banks, not the people.

By a margin of 61% to 39%, this sector prefers the Dems for 2010....as they did in 2008....and 2006....and 2004....in fact, they haven't liked the Republicans since 1996. So don't even try to suggest that it's all about "whoever's in power"....

Fifty-one years ago, the novelist George Orwell published "1984" -- a social science fiction classic about a future totalitarian regime that had perfected the art of propaganda and mind control.

The book contributed several iconic terms to the political lexicon -- "Big Brother," "thoughtcrime" -- and perhaps most profoundly prescient -- the concept of "doublethink." "Doublethink" is the act of simultaneously accepting as correct two mutually contradictory beliefs. The concept was later refined as "doublespeak" -- which is simply the notion that if you say something often enough, you can convince normal people that something is its opposite.

The concepts are clearly on display in this well known excerpt from 1984:
"From where Winston stood it was just possible to read, picked out on its white face in elegant lettering, the three slogans of the Party:

* WAR IS PEACE
* FREEDOM IS SLAVERY
* IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH."

The modern Republican Party has worked hard over the last decade to perfect the arts of "doublethink" and "doublespeak." Karl Rove and George Bush were masters of the craft. They called their plan to reduce restrictions on polluters the "Clear Skies Initiative." When they eliminated Clinton-era rules conserving forests they called their program the "Healthy Forests Initiative." And, of course, they argued that their program of warrantless wiretaps enhanced our "freedom."

Now Republican Senate Leader Mitch McConnell has carried Orwellian "doublespeak" to new heights of sheer chutzpa. Tuesday McConnell took to the Senate floor to charge that President Obama's proposal to hold the Wall Street Banks accountable actually "institutionalizes" bailouts of Wall Street.

Of course, McConnell forgot to mention in his floor speech that he and the chief of the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC), Senator John Cornyn, had just returned from a trip to New York, where they had private meetings with top Wall Street executives to enlist their help in funding Republican campaigns this fall in exchange for killing tough financial reform.

HOLD ON NOW when whatshisface entered office WHO BAILED OUT WALL STREET ?????? SO DON'T TRY TO BS ME ALL THESE SENATORS HAVE HAD ALMOST 2 YEARS TO DO SOMETHING AND NOTHING !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! HAS BEEN DONE VOTE THEM ALL OUT OF OFFICE

Nobody, and I mean nobody, is buying McConnell's spin. He and his GOP brethren have been gorging at the trough of dirty Hedge Fund money for years. That's why they are stilling angling to serve the banks, not the people.

WELL, JUST WHEN I THOUGHT, NOTHING GOOD WOULD EVER COME FROM THE GOP LEADERSHIP, YIKES, THE WORLD TURNED UPSIDE DOWN WHILE I SLEPT !THOUGH I HAVE MY DOUBTS ABOUT HIS SINCERITY,
IF. SENATOR Mc CONNELL CAN SAY SOMETHING POSITIVE ABOUT ANYTHING,IT MIGHT BE A SIGN,CIVILTY MIGHT RETURN TO CAPITOL HILL WITHIN MY LIFETIME !

I believe that we'll need to reform the Republicans in order to get any true bank and financial institution reform in place.

Everything in place and under discussion right now is happening because of the mid-term elections coming up. It's all window dressing, folks.

More and more people around the country are becoming convinced that in order to get some TRUE financial reform, we'll need to vote the incumbents (REGARDLESS OF PARTY) out of office. We'll see what we see!

The answer is simple: he was shamed into it (though by this point, I assumed Republicans have no shame.) Wouldn't it be wonderful if there actually WAS a softening in all this vicious rhetoric and some work could actually get done for the American people?

I think the Republicans are finally wising up to compromise with the Dems because recent poll numbers show a voter exodus to independent status. The Repubs show only a 37% favorability rating after all the "no, no, no," which means they are not capitalizing from stoking anger in America as they had hoped. Their strategy, which is to paint Obama and the Dems as socialists, is backfiring to some extent. At some point you have to actually do someting and be in favor of an actual plan. That's where the Repubs are failing. Their platform is to oppose any regulation (health-care, Wall Street, etc.), so they have to play nice since the public is clearly upset with big banks and shady deals. Many taxpayers lost hugs sums of money from their 401(k) plans because of the Wall Street fiasco. It borders on criminal. It needs reform.

I think the Republicans are finally wising up to compromise with the Dems because recent poll numbers show a voter exodus to independent status. The Repubs show only a 37% favorability rating after all the "no, no, no," which means they are not capitalizing from stoking anger in America as they had hoped. Their strategy, which is to paint Obama and the Dems as socialists, is backfiring to some extent. At some point you have to actually do someting and be in favor of an actual plan. That's where the Repubs are failing. Their platform is to oppose any regulation (health-care, Wall Street, etc.), so they have to play nice since the public is clearly upset with big banks and shady deals. Many taxpayers lost hugs sums of money from their 401(k) plans because of the Wall Street fiasco. It borders on criminal. It needs reform.

When is a bailout NOT a bailout. When the shareholders AND executives get wiped out, that's when. The failed company ceases to exist. The bad deed doers don't benefit from their bad deeds. The money compensates innocent victims of greed. It comes from a fund the rotten banks assemble on their own (no gov't help) by order of law. One hopes it will be big enough. It should be IF gov't is doing a thorough job of reining in dangerous practices.

rainmaker wrote>>>This isn't reform, this is just another liberal spin bill like the Stimulus. And like the Stimulus Bill it won't help anyone recover but political insiders owing their livelihoods to the Obama Administration.

GOP reps disagree with you, especially the ones depicted in local papers praising the Stimulus jobs for their districts - after they'd consistently derided the Stimulus.
The Stimulus has created over 2M jobs, but Bush's Great Recession is the WORST since the Great Depression - so don't expect miracles as if a GOP president could do any better.
Remember - 99% of GOP reps voted "Hell no!" for jobs and middle class tax cuts.

rainmaker wrote>>>This isn't reform, this is just another liberal spin bill like the Stimulus. And like the Stimulus Bill it won't help anyone recover but political insiders owing their livelihoods to the Obama Administration.

GOP reps disagree with you, especially the ones depicted in local papers praising the Stimulus jobs for their districts - after they'd consistently derided the Stimulus.
The Stimulus has created over 2M jobs, but Bush's Great Recession is the WORST since the Great Depression - so don't expect miracles as if a GOP president could do any better.
Remember - 99% of GOP reps voted "Hell no!" for jobs and middle class tax cuts.

awunsch wrote>>>We do know that Congressman Frank and Sen Dodd, among others, is complicit in the meltdown and are now among those who will "fix the problem".

We do know that Bush government regulators received huge bonuses for purposely failing to protect our financial interests.
We do know that Bush was fully aware of the economic meltdown in 2007, but waited until his final months in office to announce it.

They say there is a lot of agreement among the repubs and dems on this issue but... This is one area in which the citizenry is pretty much neutralized by a number of articles giving blame for the financial meltdown to different people etc. We do know that the gov't blew it and that no one has been punished for inappropriate or criminal behavior. We do know that regulations/laws were broken but no one has step'd up regarding that. We do know that Congressman Frank and Sen Dodd, among others, is complicit in the meltdown and are now among those who will "fix the problem". We know the TARP was originated to buy up bad mortgages to stop the meltdown but that was changed after the TARP was approved without explanation. We do know we do not need another bureau to fix this problem. So tell me again, what is this bill going to fix?

It's a scam. This is just a device to sell another so-called "reform" to the American people that will do nothing of the kind.

The White House is at the center of it and may have already broken the law prohibiting the government from using propaganda to attack private concerns.

It's a coordinated stunt and I think tomorrow you will hear Mr. McConnell sporting quite a different tune. There isn't going to be any Republican support for this scam.

When it comes to managing financial transactions there is only one standard to enforce and that is transparency. We have had the tools for 15 years to force publicly-traded companies and institutions to provide complete financial transparency with the reporting of the financial results of operations as of the close of the previous day's business but we do not enforce it. Here we see another huge bailout fund - that we get to pay for as all costs are ALWAYS passed through to customers, but don't tell that to a dumb progressive who thinks money falls from the sky - and the two main culprits in the financial collapse (FannieMae and FreddieMac) are exempt from the "reform"?

This isn't reform, this is just another liberal spin bill like the Stimulus. And like the Stimulus Bill it won't help anyone recover but political insiders owing their livelihoods to the Obama Administration.

We all know it, we just don't want to admit it.

If it wasn't a coordinated scam, how come the White House website already had Google AdWords running Friday morning?

If it wasn't a coordinated scam, why was a 9-month investigation's findings announced (with a vote for investigation being made on strict party lines by the SEC investigative committee) the day after the bill's announcement by Obama?

If it wasn't a coordinated scam, why is a former Obama Administration insider (and Democratic activist fixer) now the counsel for Goldman Sachs?

If it wasn't a coordinated scam, why has Goldman, Sachs been visiting so often to the White House?

Any one of these would be okay, but taken in the context of the totality, even a liberal would scream "conspiracy". Oh, that's right; I forgot that the conspiracy theory industry is a liberal thing.

Financial reforms are long overdue. And the mega-banks had to be stabilized, they are too interconnected in the financial system we are all dependent on. After they are well, they should be broken up into smaller pieces so this cannot happen again.

Hooray for us! Sounds like democracy is coming back to life. Glad to hear McConnell leading the charge to fix an existing bill instead of simply opposing it and doing nothing again. This is exactly what we expect our politicians to do, regardless of which party they're in--hammer it out and get some legislation passed.

That SEC fraud charge against Goldman over the weekend change your mind? Or was it the fact that liberal or conservative, NO ONE liked the bank bailouts and campaigning against the bill just because it was proposed by the dems is a bad strategy if you want to get re-elected? I hope you billed your financial institution friends, your bread and butter, for that slice of humble pie your eating right now. Bought and paid for.

Glass-STegall worked. Refine it and bring it back. We know that unregulated banks don't work well for the american people or the economy. Strong regulation of Wall Street transaction is needed to slow the runaway greed and con artists that take advantage of "get rich quick" schemes. And set up an industry BOND which will fund the demise of irresponsible wall streeters.
The Dems did not create this mess. The repugs gave government its reputation for lying to the public: they lied about Iraq, they lied about torture, they lied about de-regulation, they lied about who funds the "tea party phonies". They lied about health care reform and they are lying now. The difference between the McVeigh terror and today's nut cases, is that McVeigh didn't have the FAUX news channel spreading lies and fanning the flames of discontent. The dems had their rebellion. We elected a President who would lead with integrity, not false bravados.

Simonsays -
I'm a paid Republican Troll with way too much time on my hands. I thought all you people were hard working types, so why do you seem to have the free time you accuse liberals of having to post your moronic tirades? What you need is a good teabagging right on the chin!

McConnell enjoys swinging Righties around and around, confusing them even more.
Sen. Corker (R) seems to be the hero in this situation, after smacking down McConnell and other Republicans for promoting lies and disinformation about the bill.

The Republicans should be forced to vote against the present bill to get it on record, they would pay a political price with the average American voter. The wealthy may still pour money into the ads for them but I think that people are wary of the games being played and see a definite bias in the Republican party. The tea party has gained a lot of people because of the bias.
The next step after getting some mediocre financial reform is to step a little harder on the tax code that allows a hedge trader to earn a 4 billion bonus and only pay 15 percent taxes.

So basically he learned a lesson from the health care bill: he realizes Americans aren't going to let the banks keep walking all over us, so it's best his banking friends to get involved and gut the bill as much as possible.

McConnell's a jerk that knew he was going to get his clock cleaned on this one. I knew there was more to that fund than he was telling us. How can Republican voters put up with all the lies these clowns spew? I think this is more about race with Obama than anything.

Ezra Klein (WaPo blogger) has asked the question whether Wall Street controls the government or does the government control Wall Street? Tyler Cowen (Google) pivots on bailouts asking the rhetorical question whether the bailout of Mexico or even the countries that go to the IMF for bailouts control D.C.. They don't. Cowen notes China was the ultimate benefactor of the bailout, they invested in Treasuries and we went belly up. But China does not control D.C., (or do they)? They finance the M.E. wars and our domestics obligations. The other side of the coin of the realm is the world runs on dollars as of WWII (Bretton Woods), and the U.S. through Wall Street owns the matrix and benefits in running the Carney Ride. That means we we're required to bail it out, make good the "In God We Trust" because we set it up. Rome has obligations as long as Rome is Rome.

So really, to allow the Banks to fold is an invitation to open up the process to a new system matrix where we are not the pivot. Doesn't mean the "barbarians" are not outside the gates, just means they are planning the sacking of Rome just outside the gates.

I don't think Mitch ever had support to filibuster which is why his letter only implies but doesn't specifically say it. Now they will try to weaken the bill by proposing loopholes and gimmicks. I hope the Dems stay strong and get us the reform we need.

I say "bring on the Republican filibuster." The bankers and their GOP enablers in Congress have aimed to deliberately damage America, the American people should fight back, and make the bankers and their bought-off minions in the Senate pay a steep political price. The chattering beltway classes love McConnell, but he exists only to serve hedge funds, and we can make him pay politically for his greed. When you think back to the likes of Bob Dole, George Mitchell, Howard Baker, Mike Mansfield, LBJ, well, Mitch McConnell has got to be the dimmest and most easily outwitted party leader in the Senate has seen in decades ... even dimmer than poor old Bill Knowland (1950-58), who was once described by Ike as the very definition of "how stupid can you get."